Valve assembly having integral body and inlet

ABSTRACT

A sheet metal plug valve assembly with a hollow tubular body having a lateral outlet opening and an axial inlet. The valve plug is a hollow member coaxially rotatable within the body between positions where it will block or permit flow through the body. The plug member has side and bottom openings which are aligned with the respective valve body openings in the valve open position. An outlet tube is secured to the body in alignment with the lateral body opening, and there is a seal between the inner end of the outlet tube and the periphery of the plug member. An inlet tube, coaxial with the body is an integral axial extension of the body below the bottom of said plug member. The valve assembly can be made with more than one outlet or more than one inlet.

United States Patent 1 1 1 1 3,742,983 Harter July 3, 1973 [54] VALVEASSEMBLY HAVING INTEGRAL 3,192,613 7/1965 Allen 251/367 X BODY AND INLET3,405,601 10/1968 Clarke.. I 137/625.47 X 3.430.918 3/1969 Kolze 251/367X [75] Inventor: Robert M. Hatter, Collins, NY.

[73] Assignee: AVM Corporation, Jamestown, NY. Primary Examiner-SamuelScott [22] Filed Oct 30 1970 AttrneyStrauch, Nolan, Neale, Nies and Kurz1 [21] Appl. No.: 85,618

[ 7] ABSTRACT 52 us. or. l37/625.47, 251/366 A Sheet metal P s valveassembly with a hollow tubu- 51 1111. c1. Fl6k 11/00 131 body having alateral Outlet Opening and an axial [58] Field of Search 137/625.47,625.48; The valve P g is a low member coaxially rotat- 251/310, 311,312, 366 able within the body between positions where it will block orpermit flow through the body. The plug mem- 5 References Cited ber hasside and bottom openings which are aligned UNITED STATES PATENTS withthe respective valve body openings in the valve I 050 I50 H 3 L kh t/366 X open position. An outlet tube is secured to the body in 0C ar1,854,051 4/1932 McAndrew 251/366 x alignment with the lateral bodyopening, and there IS a 3 674 238 7/1972 Pickles et al 251/366 X sealbetween the inner end of the outlet tube and the 3:506:239 4/1970Johnson I: 1.... 251/340 f of 1 g membertube coaxial 1,320,627 11/1919Long 137/625.47 x wlth the body an Integral axial extension Ofthe body053 1 19 2 J h I I 251 3 X below the bottom of said plug member. Thevalve as- 2,973,l8l 2/1961 Johnson 251/310 X sembly can be made withmore than one outlet or more 3,052,444 9/1962 Kintner 251/367 X than oneinlet. 3,116,756 1/1964 Alderson 251/367 X 3,170,226 2/1965 Larr 251/367X 5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures w 48 37 33 4s 47 1s 12 18 1 1 A3 1 5) \FrY 6 ZZN :h Q 22 j 43 34 32 1 b f T PATENTEU JUL 3 I975 INVENTOR ROBERTM. ,HARTER 3 w m rr PAIENIEnJuLa ms SIEEIZUFZ I INVENTOR ROBERT M.HARTER UL m/ m 1M. V

VALVE ASSEMBLY HAVING INTEGRAL BODY AND INLET in US. Letters Patent No.3,506,239 issued Apr. l4,

The present invention is concerned with a valve assembly of this typeemploying a novel one-piece integral body and inlet tube construction,and such is the major object of the invention.

Further objects of the invention include novel details of suchconstruction wherein an inlet tube is coaxially united integrally with avalve body, the unit being fabricated from sheet metal. Other objects ofthe invention will appear in connection with the disclosure includingthe claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a valveassembly according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the one-piece valve body and inlet tube unit;

FIG. 3 is a section substantially on line 34 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view like FIG. 1 but showing another embodimenthaving an integral inlet tube and saddle at one side of the body; and

FIG. 5 is a view like FIG. 3 but showing another embodiment of theone-piece valve body.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the preferred embodiment of the invention thevalve assembly 11 comprises a top plate 12 which serves as the cover forthe open top of a hollow onepiece metal valve body and inlet tube unit13 having diametrically opposed lateral fluid outlet openings 14 and 15and formed at its lower end with an integral inlet tube section 16 whichwill be further described in more detail. Body 13 is suspended fromplate 12 which also serves to mount the assembly in a desired locationas by tabs 17 extending through plate apertures 18 and bent over ontothe upper side of the plate.

A resilient annular stem seal 19 is compressed axially all around itsouter periphery between the underside of plate 12 and a body shoulder 21formed between the enlarged diameter upper end 22 of the valve body anda smaller diameter cylindrical portion 23 in which outlet openings 14and 15 are formed. This forms a fluid tight seal between the upper endof body 13 and plate 12.

A one-piece valve plug and stem member 26 is rotatably mounted withinbody 13. Member 26 comprises a hollow open bottom, closed top shell 27of formed sheet metal. It preferably is cylindrical and has alignedopposite side openings 28 and 29. Shell 27 is open at its lower end at31.

The upper end of shell 27 is closed by annular transverse top wall 32which extends at right angles to the plug axis and upstanding post 33that is concentric and symetrical about the plug axis. Post 33 consistsof successively reduced diameter portions 34, 35 and 36 and a transverseend wall 37 that extends across the portion 36.

Preferably the entire outer surface 38 of shell 27 is coated withpolytetrafluoroethylene or equivalent corrosion and wear resistantplastic coating.

Integral valve stem 33 projects through the open center of resilientannulus l9 and an opening 41 in plate 12 which is of such diameter toslidably and rotatably accommodate stem portion 35.

The upper side of annulus 19 is flat and flush with the underside ofplate 12. The flat annular end wall 32 of the shell bears slidablyagainst the flat annular surface 42 on the lower end of a resilientintegral annular rib 43 projecting from the lower side of the annulus.Inwardly of rib 43, the annulus is formed with another resilientintegral annular rib 44 that is of such shape and size as to se'alinglyslidably surround stern portion 34 in the assembly.

During assembly of the valve, member 26 is inserted to thrust stem 33through resilient rib 44 until wall 32 abuts rib 43 and stem portion 36is disposed beyond plate opening 41. The apertured internally serratedhub 46 of an operating lever 47 is forced down onto stem portion 35 andpushed down until it abuts stem shoulder 48. Then the projecting upperend of the stem is deformed to the condition shown in full lines in FIG.1

wherein the outer end of portion 36 and wall 37 are deformed andexpanded to provide a ledge 49 extending over lever hub 46 to axiallyand non-rotatably fix lever 47 upon stem 33. This also fixes thelocation of member 26 in the assembly with openings 28 and 29 at thesame level as the body side openings.

Plug valve member 26 and its mounting in the assembly are preferably asdisclosed in copending application Ser. No. 4348 filed Jan. 20, 1970.

Annulus 19 is preferably of the same structure and function as disclosedand claimed in copending application Ser. No. 4347 filed Jan. 20, 1970.

Outlet tube mounting saddles in the form of integral metal members 51are mounted on body 13 in surrounding relation to openings 14 and 15respectively. Each saddle 51 is an integral annularelement of gener allyU-shape in radial section preferably stamped from a single sheet 'ofmetal and comprises inner and outer parallel cylindrical portions 52 and53 joined at their outer ends by a bridge 54.

At its inner end, portion 53 is turned outwardly to form an annularflange 55 that conforms to the external contour of body 13 entirelyaround opening 14, and flange 55 is permanently secured to body 13 as bybrazing or welding. This mounts saddles 51 rigidly on body 13.

Each saddle portion 52 is formed at its inner end with a reduceddiameter inwardly converging tapered and preferably frusto-conicalsection 56 that projects within body 13 and terminates adjacent but freeof the rotatable plug surface. The junction at the larger end of taperedsection 56 forms an annular internal shoulder 57 that faces axiallyoutwardly in the assembly.

A resilient sealing ring 58 is mounted on tapered section 56 on eachsaddle. As shown, ring 58 is generally L shaped in normal radial sectionwith one resiliently stressed arm 59 snugly and resiliently surroundingthe smooth tapered outer saddle surface at 56. The other resilientlystressed arm 61 of ring 58 engages plug shell 27 and its inner surfaceis shaped to conform snugly with the shell contour. Arm 59 may be bondedto tapered saddle section 56 so as to be fixed axially of the saddle.Arm 61 engages shell 27 with sufficient force to provide a fluid tightseal around the opening 28 when the valve is open, especially whenbacked with inlet fluid pressure, but it does not materially impederotation of the plug.

One fluid outlet tube 62 extends snugly, usually with a press fit,within the cylindrical wall defined by portion 52 of one saddle untilits end abuts shoulder 57 and tube 62 is suitably permanently secured tothe saddle as by brazing or welding.

The other fluid outlet tube 63 has a press fit within and is surroundedby the cylindrical inner portion 52 of the other saddle, and its innerend abuts saddle shoulder 57. The saddle and outlet tube structures atopposite sides of the body are thus preferably identical.

The foregoing saddle and resilient seal arrangement at the side openingsmay preferably be the same as disclosed in U.S. Letters Pat. No.3,506,239 issued Apr. 14, 1970 to which reference may be had for furtherdetail.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, body 13 at the inlet section has a reduceddiameter cylindrical lower boss 64 that is integrally united with bodyportion 23 by a radial shoulder 65, and boss 64, is integrally united bya radial shoulder 66 with the end of inlet tube 67. The lower open endof shell 27 extends within the space defined by boss 64 to terminatejust above shoulder 66. FIGS. 2 and 3 show the integral body and inlettube unit apart from the assembly.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment which is like FIGS. 1-3 except that there aretwo inlets, the outlet 63 being replaced by a one-piece inlet tube unitindicated at 71. inlet tube unit 71 consists of a cylindrical tube 72and an enlarged flared inner end saddle region 73 terminating in anannular flange 74 shaped with an axially directed concave surfaceadapted to conform to the contour of body 13 and secured rigidly aroundbody opening 14 as by brazing. This inlet tube unit may be the same asdisclosed in copending application Ser. No. 85,570 now U.S. Pat. No.3,704,003 filed of even date herewith and entitled VALVE ASSEMBLY WITHIN- TEGRAL INLET TUBE AND SADDLE.

HO. shows an alternative integral body and inlet tube unit 75 which isthe same as body 13 but has only one outlet opening 15 in the body. Unit75 is assembled with the hollow plug member as shown in FIG. 1.

I claim:

l. A plug valve assembly comprising a one-piece valve body and inlettube unit constructed from sheet metal and including a hollow tubularbody and an inlet tube, said body having a lateral outlet opening and anaxial inlet opening, a hollow plug member coaxially rotatable withinsaid body between positions where it blocks or permits flow through saidopenings, said plug member having side and bottom openings adapted toalign with the respective valve body openings in the valve openposition, an outlet tube secured to said body in alignment with saidlateral opening, means providing an annular seal between the inner endof said outlet tube and the periphery of said plug member, said inlettube being coaxial with said body and being formed in one-piece withsaid body as an integral axial extension of said body below the bottomof said plug member.

2. The plug valve assembly defined in claim 1, wherein said plug memberis a cylinder of smaller diameter than said body, said body is formedwith a reduced diameter region within which the lower end of said plugmember is guidingly received, and said inlet tube is further reduced indiameter as compared to said region and integral with a radial shoulderconnecting it to the lower end of said region.

3. The plug valve assembly defined in claim I, wherein said body isformed with a second lateral outlet opening and said plug member isformed with a second side opening adapted to align with said secondlateral body opening in the open position of the valve, a second outlettube is secured to said body in alignment with said second lateralopening and an annular seal is provided between the inner end of saidsecond outlet tube and the periphery of said plug member.

4. The plug valve assembly defined in claim 1, wherein said body isformed with a lateral inlet opening, said plug member is formed with aside opening adapted to align with said lateral inlet opening in theopen position of the valve, and an inlet tube having an face conformingto the body surface contour.

1. A plug valve assembly comprising a one-piece valve body and inlettube unit constructed from sheet metal and including a hollow tubularbody and an inlet tube, said body having a lateral outlet opening and anaxial inlet opening, a hollow plug member coaxially rotatable withinsaid body between positions where it blocks or permits flow through saidopenings, said plug member having side and bottom openings adapted toalign with the respective valve body openings in the valve openposition, an outlet tube secured to said body in alignment with saidlateral opening, means providing an annular seal between the inner endof said outlet tube and the periphery of said plug member, said inlettube being coaxial with said body and being formed in onepiece with saidbody as an integral axial extension of said body below the bottom ofsaid plug member.
 2. The plug valve assembly defined in claim 1, whereinsaid plug member is a cylinder of smaller diameter than said body, saidbody is formed with a reduced diameter region within which the lower endof said plug member is guidingly received, and said inlet tube isfurther reduced in diameter as compared to said region and integral witha radial shoulder connecting it to the lower end of said region.
 3. Theplug valve assembly defined in claim 1, wherein said body is formed witha second lateral outlet opening and said plug member is formed with asecond side opening adapted to align with said second lateral bodyopening in the open position of the valve, a second outlet tube issecured to said body in alignment with said second lateral opening andan annular seal is provided between the inner end of said second outlettube and the periphery of said plug member.
 4. The plug valve assemblydefined in claim 1, wherein said body is formed with a lateral inletopening, said plug member is formed with a side opening adapted to alignwith said lateral inlet opening in the open position of the valve, andan inlet tube having an inner end shaped to the contour of said body issecured directly to said body around said lateral inlet opening.
 5. Theplug valve assembly defined in claim 4, wherein the inner end of saidinlet tube is an integral saddle section of increased diameterterminating in an attachment flange axially shaped with a concavesurface conforming to the body surface contour.